LONDON: Solar and wind energy grew rapidly enough in the first nine months of 2025 to meet all new global electricity demand, according to UK-based think tank Ember, which on Thursday projected no increase in fossil fuel generation this year — the first such stagnation since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In its Q3 Global Power Report, Ember said renewables are no longer merely keeping pace with global consumption but are now expanding faster than demand itself.
Solar power delivered the biggest jump, rising 498 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 31%, already exceeding its total output for all of 2024. Wind generation increased 137 TWh (7.6%), bringing the combined rise from the two sources to 635 TWh — more than the 603 TWh increase in global electricity demand.
Solar and wind accounted for 17.6% of global electricity in the first three quarters of 2025, up from 15.2% a year earlier, lifting the total share of low-carbon power to 43%.
Fossil Generation Flatlines as Clean Power Leads
Fossil fuels supplied 57.1% of global electricity, down from 58.7% last year. Fossil output dipped slightly — by 0.1% (-17 TWh) — and Ember expects zero growth in fossil power for the full year. This marks the first time since the pandemic that fossil generation has not risen despite growing demand.
The report attributes the shift to falling fossil output in China and India, which outweighed small increases in the EU and United States.
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China: fossil generation dropped 52 TWh (-1.1%) as clean energy met all new demand, signalling a structural transition.
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India: fossil output declined 34 TWh (-3.3%), driven by record solar and wind deployment and milder weather that curbed consumption.
Together, the world’s two largest emerging markets “tipped the global balance” and set the stage for the first year of fossil stagnation since the pandemic.
Solar Now the Primary Driver of Global Power Transformation
Ember said solar has become the single biggest driver of change in the global power system, with growth more than three times higher than any other source in 2025.
Milder weather also played a role. Global electricity demand rose 2.7%, compared with 4.9% during last year’s extreme heatwaves, which had intensified cooling needs across China, India, and the US.
The 2025 data suggests clean power has entered “a new phase,” Ember said. For the first time — outside of major disruptions such as Covid-19 or the 2008 financial crisis — growth in clean energy has not only matched global demand but surpassed it.
The next stage, the report said, will depend on whether clean power expansion can be sustained, determining if fossil generation merely flatlines or begins a long-term decline.
Nicolas Fulghum, senior data analyst at Ember, said fossil fuels — historically a growth sector — appear to be entering a period of stagnation and managed decline.
“China, the largest source of fossil growth, has turned a corner, signaling that reliance on fossil fuels to meet growing power demand is no longer required,” he said.
